Appearing Monday on TVAM, The Malta Chamber President, David Xuereb argues that full economic recovery will be a protracted process, despite positivity surrounding the beginning of the vaccination program in Malta.

“The vaccine rollout is an incredibly crucial ingredient in order to move forward, but we’ll still feel the economic effects of the Covid-19 two years after achieving herd immunity,” said Mr Xuereb who last year compared the pandemic to “the world [having] pushed a reset button”

“While the vaccine is a very positive development towards ‘business as usual’, it will take a while to return to a semblance of where we were in 2019. As a country, we still need to understand the true impact the pandemic had on profits, trade, customer spending behaviour and other vital commercial and economic elements,” according to Mr Xuereb.

Perit Xuereb concluded by calling for innovation in the tourism sector and the diversification in the economy.

“This pandemic has opened our eyes and made us realise how dependent Malta is on tourism. It would be foolish to think that tourism will reach 2019 figures during this year. Hence, it is essential to re-think our tourism strategy and focus on targeting a more intelligent type of tourism while attracting a wider variety of sectors to attain a higher level of economic equity.”